‘Shaved a couple of years off my life’

Rose McGowan has explained what it means to be a "gatekeeper of pain" in the #MeToo movement, telling The Project panel her heavy involvement has "probably shaved a couple years" off her life.

McGowan became one of the most prominent faces of the movement after she accused disgraced Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein of rape.

He denied the allegations however since celebrities like McGowan and Ashley Judd spoke about his behaviour, more than 80 other women have told similar stories.

McGowan regularly refers to herself as a "gatekeeper of pain" and was asked by The Project host Hamish Macdonald to explain that title.

"I receive a lot of heartbreaking stories, a lot of intense stories and it does sometimes, especially in the last year, it can be really triggering," she said.

"It definitely felt like I was a gatekeeper at some point but I can shoulder it and I'm here to shoulder it."

Rose McGowan said the #MeToo movement has taken a toll on her. Picture: The Project

When McGowan was asked if her intense involvement, while also dealing with her own trauma, had taken a toll on her, the former Charmed star laughed and admitted, "yes, it's probably shaved a couple of years off my life".

Earlier today, Sunrise was slammed for a discussion it had on the #MeToo movement with author Bettina Arndt insisting on the breakfast program that it had gone too far.

"The #MeToo movement was meant originally to empower women and give some women the confidence to call out sexism. Has it been derailed a little?" Armytage asked Arndt later saying, "I know a lot of the men I know and love are quite scared at the moment".

While not specifically referring to the Sunrise segment, McGowan said put simply, the #MeToo movement was just about behaving respectfully.

"I would say just behave like human beings and we'll all be OK," she said.

"Men shouldn't feel scared, we just needed a cultural reset. We just need people to behave 10 per cent more human.

"Men get hurt too, this is across the board, somebody needed to press the reset button. That's literally the only message - do you feel like that person sitting across from you is human? 'Yes'. And should you treat them like a human? 'Yes'. Ok, then do that."

I have a lot of respect for the body of work Bettina has done for men and women over the years, However the positive reception she just got seemed remarkable and I wonder if a man had written the same book would it have been recieved so well or would they have said stop whinging

On top of the #MeToo movement, McGowan is supporting another social campaign, which is encouraging Aussies to leave work early tomorrow.

The movement, dubbed #WalkOutOz, is in its first year of what will become an annual event with organisers hoping the idea will gather steam and result in thousands of Aussies leaving work just before 4pm tomorrow.

Those behind the movement say the walkout - at precisely 3.50pm - will send the message that women need to be paid just as much as men.

The time of 3.50pm is the moment when women stop earning on the job, compared to Australian men, McGowan said.

McGowan encouraged women who could potentially face losing their job if they walked out early to get a man to walk out with them.

"I would hope these women would have a co-worker or man to walk out alongside them," she said.

"The whole thing is really just about showing it's wrong, inherently wrong...if they can just go outside of the building for five minutes, say you're having a cigarette."